Michael's Journey
by XyzzclixTheDemonLord
Summary: The exciting tale of Michael Ruth on his journey to becoming a Pokemon Master. Meeting new friends, making emotional bonds, and taking part in powerful, high speed battles are only a small part of his story. Rated T for somewhat edgy violence.
1. The final battle

**Authors's note: As this is my first ever fanfiction, and I just made a account, I'm not entirely sure how to use this, so I apologize in advance for any errors in layout, grammar, or spelling. This will be an ongoing story (I hope) with multiple chapters. It will not entirely hold true to Pokemon (I'm trying to make it a little more realistic, and I am less than adequate at geography so please forgive my terrible placement of towns and cities) and all criticism (including tips on grammar rules, or incorrect spelling). Now, on to the story.**

He stands with his back towards the large, imposing gate to the Champion's Hall. He gazes stoically into the green eyes of Abraham Forest. His fully healed party of Pokemon itch for the battle inside of their pokeballs. Abraham says to him, "You've been on a long journey, Michael. I am the final challenge standing in the way of your goal. I am not inclined to let you accomplish this goal. You and I will battle, and the winner will be crowned the Champion of the Hoenn region!" With that, Abraham reached for the pokeball at his belt, and as Michael did the same, he couldn't help but flashback to his beginnings as a Pokemon trainer….


	2. How it all began

**Well I've made it to the second chapter. Whoopee. **

It all started when he was 14 years old. A bit old for a beginning Pokémon trainer, Michael had had to help take care of his mother who had been dying of cancer from the time he was 8 until she passed when he was 9 months into his 13th year. He had waited 5 months to recover, living off of the life insurance his mother and late father had left him, until he felt sane enough to begin his journey. He lived in a rather isolated house on top of the mountains North of Rustboro, near the peak. His father (before his untimely death to a rockslide) had cleared a scanty path down the mountainside to the city. Every month or so Michael had made his way down the path on his fathers old Scooter (the motorized kind with a seat) to restock food and supplies. This time, though, when Michael came back from the market in Rustboro, he brought with him 5 Pokeballs. He had never made a business of studying up on Pokémon's habitats, (taking care of ailing parents tends to use up a lot of free time) but he knew enough to be certain that Charmander lived in the mountains, and he was dead set on catching a Charmander.

Michael got his backpack, filled it with food, a few hundred Pokedollars, a copy of Professor Oak's, _A Pocket Guide to Pokémon: a Listing of Pokémon's Habitats and Diets, _and set his Pokeballs inside his jacket. He walked a ways down the path, until he saw a small cave. He didn't see a light in it, but since caves aren't always a straight shot to the back, he investigated anyway. He stepped into the cave, and was greeted with cool, dank air, and a blast of disgruntled Zubats not used to the footfalls of humans disturbing their daily slumber. Michael walked a bit further into the dark cave, flicking on a flashlight as he did so, and almost immediately found a turn. After a small maze of twists, he saw a faint, orange light bouncing off walls and throwing shadows. He continued forward about 20 feet, when he encountered exactly what he was looking for, a Charmander sleeping on the rocks, it's tail fire held close to it's body for warmth. Michael almost shouted in joy, before noticing the plethora of Geodude laying around the Charmander seemingly attracted to the warmth of its tail flame. "This is not good," Michael thought to himself. "How am I going to get that Charmander without waking the Geodude?" He quickly flicked off his flashlight, as the light of the Charmanders tail was more than enough to see by. He pulled out his pocket guide, and sat down against a stalagmite. He flipped the page open to the Charmander entry, and read the diet section to himself. "Charmander's diet consists primarily of meat, though lots of small berries and other fruits are also present. If one is feeding a Charmander, I would consider cooking the meat before feeding it to him, as he will try to burn it himself if it is unsatisfactory. To trainers trying to catch a Charmander, a well cooked Pidgey thigh is quite delectable, and will be good for your catching attempt." "Well, I don't have a Pidgey thigh, so I hope a strip of Miltank jerky will do." He reached into his backpack, and retrieved a strip of the jerky. Almost simultaneously as he held up the jerky, the Charmander's nose began to twitch. Michael slowly backed out of the cave, reversing his twists and turns, as the bleary eyed, sleepy wild Charmander unknowingly followed the trainer, thinking it was his ticket to an easy breakfast. As they exited the cave, the Charmander began to wake more fully. It looked around, seemingly unaware that it had followed Michael outside. It's eyes focused like an eagle on the jerky in his hand, and Michael threw it down to the side, and stepped back. The Charmander quickly forgot about Michael and began to eat the jerky. As it feasted, Michael quietly readied a Pokeball. When the wild Charmander neared the end of the jerky strip, Michael flung his Pokeball. It cracked open midway through the flight, and a red beam encompassed the Charmander. The ball dropped to the ground, and began rocking back and forth. Michael's eyes flicked back and forth, watching it. On the fourth rock, it paused for a moment. Michael's heart caught in his throat, when the pokeball clicked, signifying a successful capture. Michael dubiously walked over to the ball on the ground, before picking it up. "I just caught my first pokemon," he said quietly. "I JUST CAUGHT MY FIRST POKEMON!" He yelled, triumphantly. He released the newly captured Charmander, and it looked at him with a cocked head. "You're my Charmander now," he said to it. "Together, you and I are going to be the greatest team in all of Hoenn!" The Charmander smiled warily up at his ecstatic trainer, he had heard stories of trainers who trained their Pokemon to the point of near-death. As Michael began to calm down, a boy in shorts and a t-shirt came up to him, and said, "Hi! I'm Joey. I challenge you to a battle!"


	3. Michael's first Pokemon battle

**So here's the third chapter. As my nonexistent readers have noticed, Pokemon eating is a part of this story. Well, people have to eat something, and what did you think Pokemon ate? Pre-cooked tofu burgers? Anyway, on with Chapter 3.**

Joey looked hopefully at Michael. "Didn't ya hear me?" he asked, "I wanna battle you!" Looking thunderstruck, Michael replied. "Yeah…sure. It's just…I've never had a Pokemon battle before." "Oh, it's easy! You just take your Pokemon, and tell it to use attacks on the other Pokemon until you win! Well, there's supposed to be strategy, but this is my first battle too, and I haven't got that far yet…" "Doesn't sound too hard," Michael said," Lets try it." Joey reached into his bag and pulled out a Pokeball. "Go, Wurmple!" he cried, as Michael commanded Charmander to enter into the battle. "Wurmple, use stringshot!" What do I do? thought Michael to himself, Oh yeah. Charmander knows ember. "Charmander! Dodge and use ember!" Charmander moved just barely fast enough to get out of the way, and unleashed a small pack of fiery projectiles. It hit Wurmple square in the face, knocking it backwards. "Wurmple! Get up and use tackle!" As Wurmple flew towards Charmander, Michael called out, "Use scratch attack!" Charmander raised it's clawed hand back, but it wasn't fast enough, and Wurmple collided with it. "Oh no! Charmander, use ember!" "Wurmple, use string shot on Charmander's head!" Wurmple spat a nasty blob of sticky thread and wrapped it around Charmander's head, preventing an ember attack. But it wasn't enough; the ember melted right through the sticky blob and blasted Wurmple full on, knocking it out. "Yes!" cried Michael, "We won!"

"Good battle, friend," Joey said to Michael. "Let me get your Pokenav ID number so I can call you." "What's a Pokenav?" inquired Michael. "What, did you grow up under a rock? It's the latest in cellular and navigational technology! You can get one at Devon Corp. It's really expensive though. My dad works there, and he got me one for free before my adventure." "Uh, thanks. See you around," Michael said. I guess it's time to head south to Rustboro, he thought to himself. He returned Charmander to its pokeball, and continued the short rest of the way South to Rustboro city.

Once he reached the gate into the city, Michael saw an older man pacing around outside of it. "What's wrong?" Michael asked. "Oh everything. I work for Mr. Stone, the president of Devon. He wants to get his daughter a present for her birthday, but he can't seem to find anything, so he asked _me_ to get something for her." "Oh that sucks, buddy. Good luck." Michael then passed through the gate. First he went to the Pokemon center, to heal Charmander and get himself a bed and meal.

"Oh here little boy," Nurse joy said when he inquired about a meal, "You can have a room and food for free. Pokemon centers give free food and board to patrons younger than 18." "Oh thanks a lot Nurse Joy!" Michael said. "I'll just get Charmander and go to my room." "Ok, hon. I'll send up some room service." Michael went up to his room and released Charmander once he got there. "Wow, it's hard to believe it's already been a day, isn't it buddy?" "Char, char!" responded Charmander jovially. After the first battle, he had decided he could trust Michael, and stopped being suspicious. He wasn't missing the cave much, Charizard parents weren't very caring, and he had just had the grouchy Geodude for company. Plus it was wet. "Well, I'm going to sleep now Charmander. Maybe we can challenge the gym tomorrow?" "Chaaar," Charmander yawned sleepily."

**This chapter was a bit harder to write than the last. I hope the next one will flow better. I'm going to add more Pokemon to Michael's team, I just want him to grow a bit with Charmander first. **


End file.
